1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a radar system that provides a visual display of turbulent weather and, more particularly, to a system that uses the spectral spread of a Doppler radar return caused by the weather turbulence to determine and display the turbulence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Areas where turbulent weather is suspected are generally avoided by commercial aircraft because the turbulent weather causes passenger discomfort and can cause accidents. When navigating through turbulent weather pilots generally try to fly the aircraft through the least turbulent areas. To this end, weather radar with turbulence displays have been provided. Such a system, as typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,536, uses autocorrelation of pulse pair echoes to determine amplitude variations which are displayed. Such systems require magnatron transmitters which are large, difficult to fit in a commercial aircraft and expensive. What is needed is a method that allows a solid state Doppler radar to be used for turbulence mapping.